From Fightful:
The line of thinking from many on the roster is that WWE aligned these cuts with the announcement of Elimination Chamber and Smackdown rights fee deal in order to minimize the negative impact on the company. TKO's stock dropped from $96.23 to $88.95 by 10:10 ET after the Smackdown announcement. The stock now sits at $86.94 as of 12:20 ET as news of releases have filtered in.